The destination and the journey: The role of counselor-student relationships in the planning for the current and post-secondary life of high school students.

Format:

Book

Thesis/Dissertation

Author/Creator:

Smith, Jennifer.

Contributor:

University of Pennsylvania.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Education, Secondary.

Educational counseling.

0519.

0533.

Local Subjects:

0519.

0533.

Physical Description:

176 pages

Contained In:

Dissertation Abstracts International 70-04A.

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

text file

Summary:

This study was undertaken to explore the relationships that exist between professional school counselors at the secondary level and the students with whom they work, and the effects of that relationship on students' academic planning through high school and for post-secondary life. To enable high school students' access to higher education or the career of choice high school graduation is a necessary precursor. The ability to move into college or the workplace equipped with skills and competencies that lead to success hinges largely upon what takes place through the four years of secondary school.

Research suggests that there are adult-student relationships within high schools that can and do influence in-school choices which can in turn affect on-time graduation. The work of the professional school counselor in supporting these ends has become a topic of significance in the field. Largely unexplored, however, is how and what school counselors do through their practice that either contributes to or detracts from students' ability to reach these goals.

This mixed-methods study used qualitative and quantitative procedures to gather data about student and counselor perceptions of their relationships and their effects on students' decision making and planning. Individual interviews were conducted with three students at each of three school sites, and eight counselors at those sites. The School Counselor-Student Relationship Subscale (SCSRS), a twenty-two question survey on the role of student-counselor relationships was administered to 861 students across the three study sites. Factor analysis, inter-correlation analysis, a study of reliability and ANOVA were each employed to determine the strength of the factors on the survey and to introduce into the professional conversation which themes within the context of student-counselor relationship were significant.

Through focusing on the role of adult-student interactions, particularly those of school counselors and the students they serve much can be learned. Learning more about the role that counselor-student relationships play, how these relationships shape the route toward graduation and students' ideas about possibilities for their education or employability beyond that point can influence future conversations about counselor practice and its effects on student success and school reform.

Notes:

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-04, Section: A, page: 1180.

Adviser: Howard Stevenson.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of Pennsylvania, 2009.

Local Notes:

School code: 0175.

ISBN:

9781109113037

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.